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This sweet card was made by my even sweeter five year old student. Did you lovely people have a memorable Mother’s Day? This year I decided not to make a big Facebook announcement for my mama, instead I wrote this (incase you and I aren’t Facebook friends):

I don’t want to post a generic message about how I love my mum and how lucky I am to have her (which I do and which I am) this Mother’s Day. Instead, I want to acknowledge all of my friends who either live far away from their mothers (I know from first-hand experience how hard that is) and those whose mothers are no longer with us. I wish you calmness and strength <3Mum’s breakfast at Untouched World – a lovely modern cafe with high-quality ingredients and a romantic fire.
Absolutely in love with my Dr. Seuss preschool teacher uniforms because I absolutely love him! Who is/was your favourite childhood author? (A question posed to me by Soroosh the other day to which I actually replied Paul Jennings).
Kids say write the darndest things!
“Stained glass” butterflies made with black cardboard paper, coloured tissue paper and pipe cleaners. Super easy, are instructions needed?
New favourite CHCH eatery! This $12 split pea soup (topped with caramelised onions) served alongside Bellbird bread and carrot butter from Gatherings was 10/10.

Preheat oven to 180oC
In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients, pour into a silicon muffin tray, and top with some sesame seeds (for extra pizzaz). Bake until nice and golden and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Makes 12 littlies. (Mom’s recipe BTW)
What is it they say? Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life! HASHTAGblessed.
Playing pizza pretend at work.
For my next DYKWTI (Do You Know What This Is?) Savvy Tokyo article: kinako smoothie bowl – stay tuned!
Every guy thinks that every girl’s dream is to find a perfect man…WRONG, every girl’s dream is to eat anything she wants without getting fat!
Guess what? Mandy says vegan waffles coming to Utopia Hot (Christchurch Farmer’s Market) very soon! Though these regular organic waffles were the shizz as well – served with Black Boy peach and blueberry compote, whipped coconut cream, caramelized walnuts, and melted dark chocolate – yes, I may or may not have requested everythang.Mona Vale is so beautiful. Thanks to my amazing brother-in-law for suggesting we walk it after the market. So lovely. So autumnal. So romantic.
Speaking of Autumnal, here’s a super easy seasonal activity for your little munchkins: collect leaves, decorate!
And for Mother’s Day? An easy peasy tea-riffic (see what I did there?) 3D tea cup card made from a corner piece of a round egg carton and a curled pipe-cleaner.
“A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.” (Washington Irving)

Place the filling ingredients in a pan with 2 tablespoons of water and cook on medium heat with the lid on. Once the peaches have softened remove the lid to allow the liquid to reduce – we want a fairly thick consistency – I believe the secret to a crunchy crumble is a relatively “dry” filling so that’s what we’re aiming for.

Once ready, transfer the peach mixture to a deep oven-proof dish.

In a large bowl, combine all crumble ingredients together until nice and sticky then assemble on top of stewed peaches.

Bake for 15 minutes or until golden and crunchy. Enjoy!
A super easy rainy day craft idea for little monsters featuring the fatal potato (far left).
Clever little zine I came across on my lunch-break at work.
Happiness is picking up your library requested books! Thanks for the book suggestion Rick, already LOVING Deep Work.
Oh my sister and I were so naughty today. We went to Le Panier Boulangerie !
Another kids fun activity idea: we made wands from felt pipe cleaners and used detergent to blow bubbles.
Yummy healthy snack idea. Raw chocolate energy balls. Recipe HERE.
Do you know what this is? Check out my new Savvy Tokyo article HERE to find out more.

The time has come to move on. I will miss Galicia a whole lot. Jose, Bea, Hector and Sara have been a joy to be around. They have treated me “like a daughter” (as 4 year old Sara once said) and have given me all the love and more. I will never forget this experience. Don’t forget me and a thousand times thank you.

Nestle rules Spain. Kind of sad because I hear they exploit child workers.
Wholegrain Special K with wild fruit picked by little hands.
A traditional convenience store.
And I thought Japan had strange vending machines…This thing makes fresh orange juice!
Okay, things just got weirder! This one’s for fresh milk :O
What did I say? The good life.
Went for a bicycle ride with Jose and the kids and stumbled upon fresh grapes (white and black).
On the way home, we visited their elderly neighbour, a sweet woman in a floral dress, to ask for parsley for a dish we were to prepare later. When I casually told Jose her house smelt delicious, he asked her what she was having for lunch that day to which she did this:
I still can’t believe how much fresh, organic and FREE fruit there is in Europe. So, our favorite activity (and by that, I mean MY favorite activity) is sourcing and eating it.
Tonight we were invited to a typical summertime Spanish BBQ AKA pork fest. I made this vegan platter (hehe). #changingtheworldonevegetabledishatatime.

Hiromi asked me to help out with an English camp. We picked blueberries (some of which were from NZ!), played games, sang songs and made sandwiches (with “hard” bread which the kids were unfamiliar with hehe). I absolutely adore children! Here are the pictures.